Originally, the title was planned for the album Filmmusik ohne Filme^{[citation needed]}, which was only to contain original compositions by Last. This album was never released, so "The Lonely Shepherd" was published on Last's 1977 album Memories of Russia (Russland Erinnerungen).^[1] In the same year, it was also released as a single, which reached number 22 in the music charts in Germany. With this recording, Gheorghe Zamfir, who had already published a number of records, succeeded in an international breakthrough. Among other things, he accompanied Last on his 1978 tour.

"The Lonely Shepherd" has repeatedly been used as a soundtrack. In 1979, it was used as the title theme for the six-part television series Golden Soak (Das Gold der Wüste).^[2] In 1983 it was used as the love theme of a Venezuelan series called Chao, Cristina produced by the Venezuelan TV network RCTV and again in 1984 in the Oscar-nominated animated short film Paradise.^[3] In 2003, Quentin Tarantino used the recording as soundtrack in a scene and in the closing credits of his film Kill Bill: Volume 1.^[4] On the DVD, Gheorghe Zamfir is mistakenly credited as the title's producer.

The title has enjoyed unbroken popularity up to today and is newly recorded by numerous artists. A rap version by Lamar in 1999 was quite successful, as well as a version by Leo Rojas, which enabled him to win the television talent-show Das Supertalent in December 2011.^[5] As of 2024, the performance of the piece by Zamfir and André Rieu's Johann Strauss Orchestra on YouTube has over 171 million views.^[6]